Mac sighed as he looked out the window. No matter how much you tried to keep to yourself and mind your own business something always came along to change that.

When he'd seen the truck barreling along the streets that day all those months ago at the Columbus Art Fair, it was like some trained reflex had turned his record light on. After years of serving as a grunt in the Army, then later as a Green Beret, he'd had training upon training for exactly those types of incidents. Even years after he'd been discharged, that training had been so deeply ingrained that he probably couldn't have avoided everything that had happened.

It had been his choice to step forward though. That was how he'd screwed himself. After so many years of being screwed for being the good guy, when would he learn?

The police officer that had taken his statement had stared at him in shock as Mac had reeled off distances traveled and shots fired down to the second. He’d been turned over to the detective in charge very quickly after that. It probably wasn't usual for an eye witness to walk a crime scene and tell the detective where to place the evidence markers, but he had. And later, when everything had been measured and marked, every single one of Mac's details had been proven or verified.

As a witness he was solid gold, he knew that. And so did Andromeda. So all of this that they were going through would be worth it in the end if it would get this group of terrorists out of Columbus before more people were hurt.

The job didn’t end just because he no longer wore the uniform.

He glanced into the back. The big SEAL hadn't moved, which was probably a good thing. They had very little holding him together at the moment. If he struggled he would rip everything open again and get it bleeding.

"Where are we going?" he asked eventually.

Andromeda looked at him for a moment before turning back to the interstate in front of her. "A friend of mine has a cabin down here and I've been there several times. It's off the grid and incredibly quiet."

He turned to look out at the running gray of the highway. "Okay."

She laughed a little. "No argument?"

He shook his head. "Nah. As long as we have some food and entertainment," he drew a book from one of his pockets, "we should be fine. Although you might think about trying to find Mr. Perfect back there some antibiotics and suture material."

She frowned. "I know. Just not sure where to get that stuff. The owner of the cabin is a former nurse. Maybe she'll have something there we can use."

Mac didn't say anything for a few minutes, preferring to watch the miles slide by. Then curiosity got the better of him. "Seems like you know Mr. Quinn personally."

Andromeda clasped both hands onto the steering wheel and leaned forward, obviously changing the position of her back to stretch muscles. "I used to," she said finally. "I haven't seen him for years but back when I was in law school we had a supernova affair."

She smiled as she remembered, the tense lines of her face easing. Even her pursed lips tipped up into a thoughtful smile.

"Parker hit on me in a bar and he was one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen before. And believe me, I've seen some pretty boys. But he had this rugged manliness that just appealed to me. He had more scars on his hands than I'd ever seen on any man and that ... usefulness was something I'd never seen before."

She laughed and glanced at him again. "You ever just get this feeling like things are happening for a reason? And even though the entire world shouts that you're wrong for each other, you just have to be together?"

Mac looked out the window, losing his breath. Many years ago maybe, but not for a long time. "How long were you together?"

She shook her head and ran a hand through her ultra-feminine hair. "Almost two weeks. Then we let some crazy argument get out of hand and we parted ways. I think we both knew that our relationship wasn't going anywhere. I mean, he was in the SEALs in Virginia and I was going to school in Boston."

"Which aren't especially far apart," he commented.

"I know," she whispered. "But I think we were both scared that it was so perfect. It was one of those 'rip the Band Aid off quick and get it over with’ things."

Mac left her in her own mind for a few minutes. "And how did you come together again?"

Andromeda swallowed. "As I was getting off the elevator in the parking garage this morning a woman attacked me. I fought her off but there was a man, too. I got in my car and drove through a gate to break out of my building’s parking garage." She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. "They're probably going to up my rates."

Mac could see past the humor to the lingering fear in her. Andromeda was not the type of woman to engage in fighting of any kind. But she'd impressed him today with her spunk. And she needed to know that, he decided. "Well, it doesn't sound like you had any choice in the matter. You did exactly what needed done, so don't agonize over it."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Mac. I know this thing has turned your world upside down, but I appreciate everything you're doing to secure my case."

He nodded his head and they settled into silence.

* * *

Parker knew he was dreaming, but he didn’t know how to get out of it. Seeing Andy had stirred things inside him that he’d thought he’d gotten over.

Parker knew what she wanted. He could see it in her eyes. She wanted him to stay with her, but there was no way he could. Yeah, he might have a couple more days to fuck around but his leave would be over soon, and he'd be heading right back into the jungle.

If there was a woman worth giving up his career for, though, Andromeda Pierce was right there at the top of his short list. The woman was incredible. Self-assured and competent, she didn't come with ninety-eight percent of the baggage that other women did. And that was more refreshing than he could have ever expected.

The sex was fucking amazing, though. The guys rode him hard about disappearing every night, but he had to have as much of her as he could. There was a huge countdown clock in his head, ticking down to zero faster and faster.

Parker rocked his head and saw Andy sitting at a chair in the kitchen in her apartment. There were tears streaking down her cheeks, and she seemed pissed that she'd let them be seen. He leaned back into the room to yell something and she tipped her chin up, arms crossed beneath her lovely breasts, long hair behind her shoulders.

Parker had never yelled at a woman before. Ever. And he felt like shit for doing it now. He was just soooo frustrated.

Andy wiped the tears from her cheeks, but she didn't say anything as he turned to leave. Parker hesitated at the door, praying she would say something. But she didn't. So, he walked out the door and out of her life.

He'd been hell on wheels for months afterward, but he'd been too stubborn to do anything about it. For months his guys cajoled, distracted, basically did everything they could to get his mind off of her. The only relief he had was when they were in country. Then he was completely focused on the mission ahead of him.

Rolling his head, he looked at the guy beside him. Chico had one of the better dispositions, but something that day irritated him. As soon as Parker had settled into the dirt beside him Chico's mood had gone downhill.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" he asked, aggravated.

"You did, man. You bring bad juju with you. I don' wanna be near it."

Being a Navy Seal was a brotherhood like no other. To have a fellow SEAL say he didn't want to be around him hurt, almost as bad as breaking up with Andy.

He supposed if he was telling the truth he wouldn't want to be with him either.

Then that fucker Sarfraz was there, grinning his rotten-toothed smile as he walked toward Parker with a fucking sledgehammer in his hand this time. His heart began to race, and he struggled against the cable ties holding his wrists to the floor. He knew he couldn't break them, but he also couldn't just accept what the interrogator was about to do. He had to fight. The man laughed at his struggles, smoothly brought the sledge up over his head, then brought it down with all his strength. Parker screamed.

He smelled gun oil.

Glancing around, he looked for the source of the smell. Oh, his M4 was on his bed in about five hundred pieces. It actually wasn't that many, but when you were bone-tired and needed to lay down, but you had to put the rifle back together before you could do anything, it was a load of shit.

With a few quick twists of his hands, the M4 was together again and he was sighting down its length. Then he was falling into his rack.

But he didn't, actually. He landed on his stomach on the desert floor, biting ants crawling all around him. Parker tried to brush them away, but they kept finding new ways to bite him.

"Well," Andy tilted her head. "If you'd stayed with me it wouldn't have happened."

Parker blinked his eyes open, wondering what was real and what wasn't. Gravity shifted and he felt like he was in a decelerating boat. He scanned the roof. Oh, maybe just a car. There were trees out the window, but that's all he could see.

Looking down, he realized his hand was resting on where he was aching. There was a mound of something over the pain. Craning his neck, he looked down the length of his body. He was laying diagonally in the back of a vehicle and his gut had been patched with something. What the hell was that?

They were decelerating again. He reached out for something to hold onto, but he couldn't find anything to grip. He ended up bracing himself on the driver's seat with his arms over his head.

A man with reddish beard hair looked back at him, and details started to filter in. This was Mac and they were supposed to be protecting Mac for a court case. Parker looked up into the driver's seat and his heart stopped.

There she was. Even upside down she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He loved her haircut. It was edgy and spunky and made her appear soft, though she'd probably meant for it to do the exact opposite.

The vehicle they were riding in turned and he had to brace again. Mac reached back a hand and pressed down on his shoulder, which helped a bit. Kept him from rocking and hurting. And he needed it because this road was going to kill him. Against his will he gasped aloud in pain.

"I'm so sorry, Parker. I'll slow down."

She did, and the jostling wasn't so bad. He lost time as they continued, and he eventually realized they were going uphill. Then it got even steeper and the tires began to spin, even though he could tell she'd switched into four-wheel drive. One rise they went up was steep enough that he could see out of the rear window, but all he saw were trees. Miles upon miles of trees. Then the road leveled out and she picked up some speed.

"That's strange," she murmured. "I thought Rosalind was in Georgia."

Adrenaline spiked through him and he levered himself up in spite of the pain in his side. They were on a mountaintop, with only trees and mountains as far as the eyes could see. Directly ahead of them was a long, low cabin, rustic and homey. Another SUV sat parked out front.

"Are you sure it's her car?" he demanded.

"Yes, I'm sure."

They parked the vehicle behind the other one. Andromeda circled to the back to open the hatch and Parker pushed himself out. His head was woozy but he forced himself to stand. He looked up into the business end of a shotgun.